As anti-war protesters are again met with police, on the other side of VicPol’s ring of steel, the land forces defence expo continues to churn on, as lobbyists, weapons makers and officials from militaries all over the world mill through the Melbourne Convention Centre.
Today the highlight is the Australian army’s symposium - for the first time, it’s open to all those with a ticket - pending approval of course and providing you can find the basement theatre.
Australia’s army chief General Simon Stuart AO said the recent defence strategic review rightly demanded more than just a rethink of military tactics but its culture too, as a profession trusted to fight Australia’s wars.
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“It should not surprise anyone in this audience when I observe that we must do more to reflect on the sufficiency of our professional standards,” he said, adding that “the long shadow of Afghanistan” now lay over any army transformation.
The army needed to put steel into the foundations of its culture, he said, so it does not fracture under the pressure of combat.
But Stuart also spoke of the need for society to support its soldiers, given their commitment to lay down their lives for society. “And I think the recent Royal Commission [into veteran suicides] shows how well we are doing that,” he sighed.
And there is no time to waste. Stuart said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had reminded the world that war was unpredictable and armies must be adaptable, even if they were contracted during peacetime.
“I’m not sure that we yet have the doctrine and the learning systems in place to hard wire adaptation into our profession,” he said.
Stuart, it turns out, a big proponent of the “liberal arts”, calling for soldiers to be trained in not just the science of war but its history and philosophy, which less than 10 per cent of army graduates study.
Australia’s army chief General Simon Stuart AO said the recent defence strategic review rightly demanded more than just a rethink of military tactics but its culture too, as a profession trusted to fight Australia’s wars.